Rotary motor



M. E. HOVER ROTARY MOTOR Feb. 23, 193 7.

Filed ooit. 1o, 19:55 4 sheets-sheet 1 E TV E No 4m VLH. m We T E nn T W. MMM Y M. E. HOVER Feb. 23, 1937.

ROTARY MOTOR Filed oct. 1o, 1935 4 sheets-sheet a4 /N VENTO/a NON TE E. HOVER ATTORN Y K MM, @MMM ggg? iFeb. 23, 1937. v M E HOVER y 2,071,528v

ROTARY MOTOR Filed Oct. l 10, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 TTE. .3

INVENTOQ. MONTE EHOVE/a MM, @www uw? ATTOENE YS Feb. 23, 1937. M. E. HOVER 2,071,528

ROTARY MOTOR Filed Oct. 10, 1955 4 Sheets-Shee'f| 4 :NVE/wma Mon/T5 E. HOVER ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITED STATE FATEN'E OFFlCE ROTARY MOTOR Application October 10, 1935, Serial No. 44,436

8 Claims.

This invention relates to rotary motors, and while I show and shall hereinafter describe a form thereof designed especially to evolve kinetic energy by the spontaneous ignition of fuel in the power spaces of the motor, it is an object of the invention to design and construct the various parts employed so that by slight alteration, an external agent, such as the ignition system of an internal combustion engine, can be employed and the motor operated by power evolved from timed explosions of gases in said spaces in the manner of an internal combustion engine.

An important object of the invention is to provide a rotary motor in which diametrically disposed pairs of opposed pistons will function in a highly reliable manner to insure complete scavenging of the working spaces between the 'pistons of all burned gases, thereby preventing loss of power.

Another object is to provide a rotary piston assembly consisting of diametrically disposed pairs of opposed pistons and means for accurately timing the relative movements of said opposed .pistons with respect to the intake and exhaust ports of the stator casing in which said pistons are mounted and for insuring operative timed injection of fuel between said pistons.

Another object is to provide a rotary motor, the rotary piston assembly of which is characterized by a novel association of diametrically disposed pairs of opposed pistons in which the istons of each of said pairs define a working space therebetween, the form and construction of which will prevent uid and compression losses from said space during rotation of said assembly.

A further object is to provide a rotary motor vhaving a rotary piston assembly constituting an inertia mass and including pairs of opposed, relatively movable pistons, actuation of which can be accurately controlled by power transferring means which automatically functions to determine operative co-ordination of the working spaces between the pistons with the air intake and gas exhaust ports of the motor and which further insures the application of such relative movement of the pistons as is required to fully compress the air between the pistons in synchronism with the admission of the combustion spray.

With the above objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein (Cl. 12S- 11) Figure 1 is a vertical section through the motor with the pistons at the intake stroke;

Figures 2 to 5, inclusive, are more or less diagrammatic sectional views showing, respectively, diiferent positions of the pistons in the different cycles of operation of the motor;

Figure 6 is a vertical section through the motor cut on a line to show the piston assemblyiin elevation;

Figure 7 is a horizontal section through .the motor to fully disclose the working spaces between the opposed pistons of one of the pairs employed;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary vertical section through the motor illustrating the means for timing operation of the fuel injector;

Figures 9 and l0 are perspective views of the respective piston elements of the piston assembly.

In carrying the invention into practice, use is made of a casing 5 having a cylindrical bore 6, said casing having substantially diametrically disposed air intake ports l and substantially diametrically disposed exhaust ports 8, 8, in juxtaposition to the air intake ports. The casing is provided with suitable supply and exhaust conduits 9 for the respective ports 'l and 8.

Fixedly mounted at the ends of the bore inwardly of the cylinder heads l i are large herringe bone orbit or epicyclic gears lll with each of which mesh small herring-bone driven planet gears Ha on the crank shafts Hb, said gears lil and Ila and said crank shafts providing means for timing operations of the co-operable pistons of vthe motor during planetary motion of the gears Ha.

Journaled to rotate in suitable bearings I2 upon the heads i l is a driven shaft i3 and mounted upon said shaft is a rotary piston assembly consisting of relatively oscillatory piston elements hl and I5, the former provided with substantially diametrically opposite pairs of cheek plates Iii-I6, the plates of each pair being connected together by a flat radial piston head I1, the latter functioning in practice the same as the end of a cylinder of the type having a reciprocable piston which is proportioned to provide a combustion space between the piston and said end. The element l5 is freely mounted on the shaft i3 and is provided with a pair of oppositely extending at piston heads lli-I3. The elements IAy and i5 are mounted on the shaft I3 so that the heads i'l and i3 thereof are opposed to each other, the heads lS-l being freely movable between the complementary cheek plates lli-i6 of the element mand provided with packing strips I9 to bear against the inner faces of said plates.

The external diameter of the element I4 through the plane of the opposite pairs of cheek plates IS--IB is approximately equal to the diameter of the cylinder bore 6 and the arcuate edges 28 of said plates are provided with packing strips 2| which have close engagement with the wall of said bore. A like construction is provided for the outer edges of the piston heads Il and the outer edges of the heads I8. The element I5 is formed with a substantially cylindrical hub Z2 over portions of which the inner wide width ends 23 of heads I'I may freely turn and against which the packing strips 2li of said ends are in fluid-sealed engagement. It is desirable to mention at this point that the element I4 is keyed at 25 to the shaft I3 in order that the piston heads I? of element I4 can oscillate relative to the opposed heads I8 of element I5.

The aforementioned crank shafts IIb are each journaled for rotation in its complement-ary pair of cheek plates IS-I of the element ILS and, as shown, each crank shaft has a pitrnan rod 2G connected with the confronting face of a respective piston head I8 of the element I5.

With the elements I4 and I5 in the correlated positions shown in Figure l of the drawings, the crank shafts I Ib are disposed parallel to the axis of the driven shaft I3, and these shafts, to which can be contributed the weight of the cheek plates Iii-I3, function as an inertia and balancing mass. It also follows from the forms of said elements I 4 and I5 that the opposed pistons I'l and I8 co-act with the complementary cheek plates IG-IG and the internal annular wall of the casing 5 to define fluid working chambers or spaces S, the outer ends of which are adapted to successively communicate with the intake and exhaust ports l and 8 at the respective sides of the casing 5, as clearly shown in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings in which views the motion of the shaft I3 is clockwise. The port openings 1 and 8 are each characterized by parallel spaced apart portions 'Ia and 8a, as shown in Figure 6, and each represents an arc of a circle which is concentric to the axis of the shaft I 3. The inner surfaces of these ports form circumferential continuations of the bore 6 so that the end packing elements I'Ia and Ia of the pistons Il and i8 can freely ride thereover.

In Figure 2, the pistons I'I and I8 are at the instroke positions, at which time the fluid spaces S are in communication with the substantially diametrically opposite intake ports 'I for admission of air under pressure thereto from a suitable source of supply (not shown).

In Figure 3, the pistons I'I and I8 are at the compression stroke positions, during which time previously admitted air is being compressed between said pistons, it being understood that fuel shall be injected into these spaces yat the point of highest compression of the air and thus ignited following the theory of operation of such types of rotary motors.

In Figure 4 the positions of the pistons represent the power stroke and in Figure 5 I have illustrated the positions of the pistons to exhaust the gases from the ports 8.

In each piston I'l is mounted an injector 2i in the form of a cylinder having a reciprocal piston 28, the latter provided with a stem 29, movable through the head 3G of the cylinder and surrounded by a compression spring 3 @ne end of said spring bears against the head 3@ and the ,opposite end against a flange 32 at the outer end of the stem, whereby the pistons will be urged to the full line positions shown in Figure 1. The injector cylinders 2l have nozzle portions 33 which open to the spaces S, whereby atomization of the spraying fluid can be effected and the spray discharged into the spaces. Fuel is introduced to the nozzle portions 33 through piping S-i past check valves 34a therein from the bore 35 of shaft I3, and, as shown, one end of the shaft has connection with a feed pipe 36, from a fuel source by means of which timed charges of fuel can be passed to the bore 35 during operative timed movements of the pistons I'I and I8. Such feeding of fuel to the spaces S will be entirely according to Diesel engine practice and I make no claim to this feature.

In order that the fuel ejecting pistons 28 can be moved to fuel spraying positions in operative time with the compression strokes of the pistons Il and I3, rocker arms 3i cn the element if, are employed, the same having knocker surfaces 38 bearing against the outer ends of the stems 29 and knocker surfaces 39, the latter adapted to be actuated by timing cams di) on the inner face of an adjacent one of said heads II, the cams being mounted for adjustment for operative timing of the pistons 28.

Operation Assuming that the motor has been started in operation in the manner common to this class of motor, it follows that in response to actuation imparted to the piston assembly by the cpicyclic gear train above described, air is drawn into the spaces S on clockwise movement of said assembly. As the relative motion of the pistons Il and i8 changes periodically in timed response to power supplied by the motions of the cranks Hb and their pitman or connecting rods 2S, the air thus admitted to the working spaces S will be highly compressed and thus become heated to a high temperature; at the saine time, a spray of oil will be injected into said spaces through the nozzles of cylinders 2"! as is common in the Diesel type of motor. The oil thus ignites on meeting the air, and the resulting expansion of the fuel and air mixture develops power sufficient to impart rotary motion to the shaft i3 to which the element Ill is keyed. After the power impulse has been imparted to the shaft I3 and as the piston assembly is rotated, relative motion of the pistons towards each other causes the spaces S to be scavenged of combustion products through the exhaust ports 8 just previous to the admission of the next charge of air at the intake ports l.

As I am particularly interested in the novel assembly of pistons employed, the same timely functioning in the cycle to (l) admit air, (2) compress the air, and (3) admit a charge of fuel to the spaces S between the pistons il' and i8, I have omitted from the accompanying drawings any showing of means for cooling the cylinder and the pistons of the motor as this is well within the skill of persons trained in the art and any suitable well known means can be provided.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a rotary motor of the class described, a cylindrical casing having a concentric power transferring shaft; a pair of relatively oscillatory compressing elements co-operating with the casing to form a worlL'ng chamber and being supported by the shaft, one of which is keyed to the shaft and the other of which is free thereon to move angularly relative to the keyed element, the elements having contact at their outer ends with the walls of the bore of the casing, the keyed CII element having spaced apart cheek plates between which the other element is free to move and said other element having packing strips bearing against the inner faces of the cheek plates and means for timing movement of the elements angularly relative to each other as the shaft is rotated.

2. In a rotary motor of the class described, a cylindrical casing having a concentric power transferring shaft; a pair of relatively oscillatory compressing elements co-operating with the casing to form a working chamber and being supported by the shaft, one of which is keyed to the shaft and the other of which is free thereon to move angularly relative to the keyed element, the elements having contact at their outer ends with the walls of the bore of the casing, the keyed element having spaced apart cheek plates between which the other element is free to move and said other element having packing strips bearing against the inner faces of the cheek plates and means for timing movement of the elements angularly relative to each other as the shaft is rotated, said element moving means including an epicyclic gear train having a system of motion imparting crank shafts carried by one element and linkages between said shafts and the other element to effect timed angular movement of one element relative tothe other as aforestated.

3. In a rotary motor of the class described, a cylindrical casing having a concentric power transferring shaft; a pair of relatively oscillatory compressing elements co-operating with the casing to form a working chamber and being supported by the shaft, one of which is keyed to the shaft and the other is free thereon to move angularly relative to the keyed element, the elements having contact at their outer ends with the walls of the bore of the casing, the keyed element having space-d apart cheek plates between which the other element is free to move and said other element having packing strips bearing against the inner faces of the cheek plates and means for timing movement of one of the elements angularly relative to the other as the shaft is rotated; and fuel ejectors carried by one of the elements for spraying liquid fuel between both elements.

4. In a rotary motor, a cylindrical casing having intake and exhaust ports; a shaft journaled in the casing co-axially therewith; a rotary piston assembly including co-operable elements one of which is xed to the shaft and the other freely oscillatable thereon; one of the elements having cheek plates between which the other element operates for co-action therewith and with the internal annular wall of the casing in defining a working chamber in the latter between the elements; means through which fuel can be ccnducted to said chamber; and means for oscillating one of the elements relative to the other element and in such timed relationship to rotary motion of said shaft, as to cause induction of air into said chamber through the intake port for mixing of fuel with the air and compression, ignition, and expansion of the mixture to apply torque to the shaft and then effect the discharge of the combustion products from the chamber through the exhaust port.

5. In a rotary motor, a cylindrical casing having intake and exhaust ports; a shaft journaled in the casing co-axially therewith; a rotary piston assembly including col-operable elements one of which is xed to the shaft and the other freely oscillatable thereon; one of the elements having cheek plates between which the other element operates for co-action therewith and with the internal annular wall of the casing in dening a working chamber in the latter between the elements; means through which fuel can be conducted to said chamber; a crankshaft journaled in the cheek plates and having a crank between the latter; a link connecting the crank with the other element; and means for driving the crankshaft to oscillate the rotor shaft in such timed relationship to rotary motion of the latter, as to cause induction of air into said chamber'through the intake port for mixing of fuel with the air and compression, ignition, and expansion of the mixture to apply torque to the shaft and then effect the discharge of the combustion products from the chamber through the exhaust port.

6. In a rotary motor, a cylindrical casing having intake and exhaust ports; a shaft journaled in the casing co-axially therewith; a rotary piston assembly including co-operable elements one of which is fixed to the shaft and the other freely oscillatable thereon; one of the elements having cheek plates between which the other element' operates for co-action therewith and with the internal annular wall of the casing in defining a working chamber in the latter between the ele;- ments; means through which fuel can be conducted to said chamber; a crankshaft journaled in the cheek plates and having a crank between the latter; a link connecting the crank with the other element; gears xed to the crankshaft exteriorly of the cheek plates; and internal gears fixed to the casing and constantly meshing with the crankshaft gears so as to drive the crankshaft and oscillate said other element in such timed relationship to rotary motion of the rotor shaft as to cause induction of air into said chamber through the intake port for mixing of fuel with the air, and compression, ignition and expansion of the mixture to apply torque to the shaft and then effect the discharge of combustion products from the chamber through the exhaust port.

7. In a rotary motor, a cylindrical casing having intake and exhaust ports; a shaft journaled in the casing co-axally therewith; a rotary pistn assembly including co-operable elements one of which is provided with diametrically opposed piston heads having cheek plates projecting therefrom and including alined spaced apart hubs fixed to the shaft; the other element including diametrically opposed piston heads having an intermediate hub freely mounted on the shaft between the cheek plates for co-action of the latter with the piston heads of the elements and with the internal annular surface of the casing in defining oppositely related working chambers; means for conducting fuel to said chambers; and means for oscillating the freely mounted element in such timed relationship to rotary motion of the shaft as to effect induction of air tol said chambers through the intake ports for mixing with fuel, and expansion following ignition of the mixture so as to apply torque to the shaft and then discharge the combustion products from the chambers through the exhaust ports.

8. In a rotary motor, a cylindrical casing having intake and exhaust ports; a shaft journaled in the casing co-axially therewith; a rotary piston assembly including co-operable elements one 0f which is provided with diametrically opposed piston heads having cheek plates projecting therefrom and including alined spaced apart exteriorly of the cheek plates; and internal gears fixed to the casing and constantly meshing with the aorestated gears to drive the crankshafts and oscillate the freely mounted element in such timed relationship to rotary motion of the rotor 5 shaft as to eiect induction of air to said chambers through the intake ports for mixing with fuel, and expansion following ignition of the mixture so as to apply torque to the shaft and then discharge the combustion products from 10 the chambers through the exhaust ports.

MONTE E. HOVER. 

